Are You A Player?

Posted by James Obermayer on Dec 2, 2010 11:16:00 AM

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We're pleased to have a new guest blogger with this post. James Obermayer is Executive Director and CEO of the Sales Lead Management Association and President of Sales Leakage Consulting. He can be reached at JObermayer@salesleadmgmtassn.com.

The coach gave his pep talk and the team was ready to take the track. One of the players hung back and was quiet. The coach asked, ‘What’s wrong Jim? Why are you down?”

Jim responded, “Coach, this team we’re playing today is so much better than us. We don’t stand a chance. I don’t stand a chance.”

The coach looked Jim in the eye and said, “Have a seat. You’re excused from the meet today.”

At this point, Jim, with a pained expression on his face, said, “But why Coach?”

Jim, pleaded with his coach that he wanted to run. (Ah, youth, take something away and they beg for it, even if they didn’t want it in the first place).

The coach sat down next to Jim and explained why he would have to sit out the meet. “If you don’t think you can win,” the coach said, “you won’t and we don’t need you on the field. You are defeated before you start.”

Starting Line“The guys we need running for us are the ones that know they can win; they believe in themselves. They believe it will be difficult and a hard fought battle, but they believe they can contribute enough to win. You don’t believe enough in yourself or us. Sit out a week and think about it.”

I’ll tell you what happened to Jim, but first, let’s look at how this pertains to the average marketer. The coach delivered three clear messages:

1. You have to believe in yourself.
2. You have to believe you can win.
3. You have to believe the team can win.

I believe the majority of marketers don’t have confidence in themselves or believe they are contributing enough to the company to win. Many of you reading this will say, “That’s not me, I have plenty of confidence in myself, I am creative, I know how to market, you’re talking about someone else.” But before you dismiss these thoughts read on, just in case this pertains to a friend of yours.

My reasoning is based on facts; most marketing professionals do not make an effort to prove the ROI for their marketing efforts. They don’t act like winners; when asked if they can prove the ROI for their marketing efforts, they refrain from comment or give an excuse as to why they can’t prove the ROI. Winners strive to prove their worth and improve their performance. Losers give excuses.

They say things such as:

1. Our salespeople are to blame, they don’t follow-up the leads.
2. Our salespeople are to blame, they don’t close the leads.
3. Sales management is to blame, they don’t believe in the CRM system.
4. Our salespeople are to blame they don’t (pick one) use, believe, or like the CRM system.

I don’t mean to imply these aren’t real circumstances in most companies. But seldom, does a marketer admit they share in the blame of self-defeat by not:

1. Sharing in the follow-up of the sales leads (marketing automation).
2. Coaching the salespeople about why the closeout of the sales leads is important (ROI).
3. Teaching sales management how to use the CRM system to their advantage (training and retraining).
4. Teaching the salespeople why they should use the CRM system to make their life easy.
5. Using the CRM database to prove the ROI for lead generation dollars.

Marketers are Builders of Wealth

I genuinely believe that marketers are builders of wealth. Whether they believe it themselves is another issue. Most feel it is true, but have not tried to prove it. In order to contribute the most to your team, I suggest you take a leap of faith. You can prove it via a marketing automation program, CRM or just plain phone calls to prospects (Did You Buy Studies).

Believe me, YOU are a builder of wealth. Believe in yourself enough to prove that your marketing efforts are helping the company win. In the end, the company will win more than it loses when everyone who takes the field (takes the company’s money as a pay check) believes in themselves and believes in their company.

As for that player, Jim, there was happy ending for the team. He quit.  He did not believe enough in himself or the team. The coach was disappointed, but had a better team because of it. By the way, the team player was me. I learned a valuable lesson. I have never quit since that day. I believe in myself and the teams I work for. I prove my worth; I am a player. The question is…Are you?


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Topics: Marketing Strategy, Guest Blogs


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